The Big Picture: PC Gaming Is Dead - Long Live PC Gaming!

[DaBozz]

if moviebob had said "Console gaming as we know it is dead" everyone (Even console gamers) would be fine with it

You're wrong and you know you are wrong.
This thread has yet to indulge in merely throwing insults back and forward, so please take that kind of mentality out of this. The PC audience has made valid points here, and it's long been established that the matter is less GAMING as it is FUNCTION.
Maybe read past page 2...?

And bob has made valid points too but no one is listening to them.
and chill out dude...your post comes over far to angry for my liking.
I enjoy PC gaming as much as most of you, but I'll still admit the medium is evolving.

I never denied the evolution of the medium, or that Bob's (albiet badly expressed) views on PC's being reinvented (as opposed to 'dying off') has a lot of reasonable ground. You weren't saying that though were you?
You were saying how PC gamers are immature and goading many people in this thread- not to mention the statement I quoted, which is either a vast misunderstanding or you really don't understand what you're saying.

As a proof example, I put it to you to write a brief "why consoles will be dead soon" thread and see just how much everyone loves you for it.

No, I was saying how some of the people on this tread need to be mature, I did not mean it at all PC gamers...I guess its my own fault for the wording, for that I am sorry.
but some of the replies I have seen make me ashamed to be a gamer, I thought we where beyond this...I been reading the Extra Credits threads and people seem to take the points they make well, but Bob gets no such nice treatment.

That's alright, no harm done.
I think the reason Bob is getting such a reaction, as he does in a few 'certain' topics he covers, is that deny it though he might my beloved Bobby does like to stir up the controversy pot. After all it was what made his shows get noticed in the first place, being one of the only game culture commentators to stand against the next gen consoles in favour of the retro.

But why so much scorn here? Possibly because the problems that are being addressed by PC gamers are the ones that console gamers don't even SEE in this video. People who own and play on PC's can recognise faults in Bob's logic that console players wouldn't be familiar with, and it seems quite obvious that Bob doesn't know all that much about PCs.
Understandable, as he said he only uses it for video editing.
But since that's the case I personally feel his opinion wasn't dead on the facts as he believed them to be- perhaps it would have been better had he been more careful with his words? (Insinuating that PC gamers were bitter old men who never got bought consoles as kids was a DREADFUL way of relating to that audience).

While I agree he might have been able to word it better, I don't think it would have mattered, however he worded it this backlash was immanent. I just think Moviebob gets far to much hate on here tbh, and its a shame because he makes some good points.

 

[Mr Somewhere]

Well put, but not likely fully correct. We're ongoing in a period of intense change as regards gaming. So I'm very certain radicale changes will occur, just not terribly soon. Still I don't understand the rage.
Why any anger, as long as great games are produced and the medium further begins to realise its potential, frankly I don't care what I'm using to game.
Also
Bonus points for the Devo reference.

 

[geldonyetich]

Generally, I find MovieBob's stuff to be rather inciteful. In this case, though, it felt a bit like he was out of his element. The thing he, he didn't give any props to the #1 thing keeping PC gaming alive these days: independent developers.

You might say, "oh, well, if independent developers re the #1 thing keeping PC gaming alive, that just proves my point that PC gaming is dead" but no, it's not like that, because the funny thing is that mainstream gaming is generally boring, derivative crap intended for casual gamers. So the PC platform making independent developers so much more accessible is appropriate to the non-casual niche.

You might say, "hey, the iOS stuff (iPhone/iPad/iPod) is a way better springboard for PC gaming," but we're a bit limited there in terms of the technology curve. Indy PC games are a whole lot more technically interesting than indy games made for the iPad, with the exception of the rare gem. Part of the reason for this is because there are hurdles to jump over in order to developer for iOS that aren't there for PC developing.

So, taking these considerations in mind, PC Gaming isn't dead, per se, but it has changed and some would argue for the better. In time, will PCs become obsolete? Sure, such is the fate of all technology, even this fabulous upgradable desktop box. However, if we don't have some awesome centralized system we sit down to in order to waste our time on digital entertainment in 20 years (barring an economic collapse) I would be surprised.

 

[Astalano]

Fucking hell, this argument will never be won as long as idiots continue to refuse to see the truth. I post links by the truckload and people skim over them and post their sad comments about PC dying when many articles CLEARLY state that the PC is booming.

I'm done. Think what you like. I'm going back to playing The Witcher while having msn on and Word to finish some Economics homework.

 

[castlewise]

Looking over the thread I see lots of people posting lists of games on the pc and talking about steam. I think a distinction needs to be made.

1. PC as a platform is doing well enough. Digital distribution services like steam are making a ton selling games to pc players. There are heavy hitters like Blizzard and Wow that are PC exclusive. There are tons of indie developers like Mojang and Frictional that deliver amazing experiences.

2. Exclusitivity is dead. Be it for consoles or PCs the exclusive game is a dying breed. Its too expensive to make Dragon Age 2 and only release it on one platform.

All that being said, I think there was a time that you could have a gaming experience on a PC that was unable to be found on consoles and I think that time is over. But I view it more as the ability to deliver a quality gaming experience has expanded than anything else.

 

[MaVeN1337]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20128627/Capture.PNG

I'm sorry, what did you say bob?

 

[Hiken no Ace]

I'm....not seeing it. Don't get me wrong, guy made some great points. Thing is PC's do some many different things, and serve so many functions, I can't see myself ever gettin rid of mine. I have a PC for multimedia, and a Laptop that does my basic browsing, microsoft office, and work stuff. I've always been partial to Gaming on the PC to on a console, although i love my PS2 and PS3. Maybe because growing up I had to wait to use the living room TV till my parents were done. I dunno. But I love seeing new games coming out on PC. Big titles like Bioshock, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age games to name a few. Also, RTS games are almost EXCLUSIVLY PC, rarely crossing over to consoles, and even when they do, they rarely do well (aka Halo Wars).

 

[Delusibeta]

I think you oughta take a look at TellTale Games, check where they started and where they are going, neither has ever been the Wii. They started upon the PC and are now going towards iOS devices and the PS3.

Well, Bob may have a point... twelve months ago, when Telltale were releasing Tales of Monkey Island for Wiiware. However, the only console versions (so far) of their current and previous series (Back to the Future and The Devil's Playhouse) has been on the PS3. That said, he's incorrect in saying that consoles had much part to play in the revival of point & click, since ALL of Telltale's games are available on the PC.

Yes I'm sure 2D boy is going to be very eager to develop another game for the PC and watch 95% of their potential profits fly out the window when their WII version had an insignificant piracy rate.

For falling for the "1 pirated copy = 1 lost sale" fallacy and reporting inaccurate figures (2D Boy actually claimed about 80%), please flog yourself. About 0.01% of pirated copies are lost sales. [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17350] Of course, between the long tail affects of PC games sales and various Humble Indie Bundles, I think it would be fair to say that 2D Boy has made more money on the PC versions than on the WiiWare version.

 

[Astalano]

2. Exclusitivity is dead. Be it for consoles or PCs the exclusive game is a dying breed. Its too expensive to make Dragon Age 2 and only release it on one platform.

If Bioware cut back on costs and went back to making Baldur's Gate/Fallout Style perspective RPG's, they would make a hell of a lot more money while not needing to go multiplatform and expanding on RPG mechanics instead of dumbing them down, AKA Mass Effect.

 

[Ashoten]

PC Gaming Is Dead - Long Live PC Gaming!

Hold off on the rage for a second and just listen.

Watch Video

Ok LOL I think people started posting before they watched the whole video. I'm pretty darn sure your conclusion clearly says you believe PC gaming will still be around but it will change faces with the technology. Isn't expanding technology what made the home PC a possibility in the first place?

 

[Calcium]

Hmmm, quite interesting. I can see what he's saying; I used to feel like I needed a desktop to play games but as years went by the need for one diminished. I would probably still feel the need for one if my most recent desktop wasn't a complete failure. Software and hardware problems plagued it to the extent I used it less and less, eventually abandoning it. My netbook deals with all my internet/work needs and consoles gaming needs.

I must admit though that when it comes to modding and custom content the PC is still supreme. I spent hours on the Oblivion construction set despite being rubbish with it, and the Alien Swarm SDK held my interest much better than the game did. I'm tempted to get a new desktop just for Skyrim's construction set... and probably will.

 

[Maur DL]

Someone had to say it. The truth is that everything is hurtling into the same direction towards smaller and more powerful devices until one day we just have one portable device that does everything. This device will hook up to your TV (wirelessly most likely) and other peripherals and then be ready for on the go when you need it. This is the ultimate truth behind what Bob is saying. It's not just PC gaming that is dying, the whole paradigm WILL be an anecdote for future generations.

 

[roostuf]

a very convincing talk there bob, and thank you for enlighting me with your wisdom.

LET THE WAR OF THE FLAME BEGIN(on a other site)....

 

[Dimitriov]

This was ridiculous, Bob, you've got it mixed up. As other people have already pointed out PC's are certainly not dying out to consoles... consoles are just becoming PC's all the functionality of our home computers is still needed.

If we move all the things a PC does to another device then we've just built a new case for our PC nothing more or less.

 

[Sindre1]

Snip.

A lot of those are not exclusive at all!

 

[vviki]

"Need flack? Clouds of Death!" - random flack trooper, Red Alert 2

 

[Srdjan Tanaskovic]

Bob you have to remember that even if some genera becomes big on console it will still be better on PC due to faster, hotkeyes and more responsive controls

Plus seeing how developers like to make high end graphics to games then there are some games that simple aren't possible on Console (STALKER being one of them)


I could be wrong here but I think that even games like Shogun 2 aren't possible on console due to how much they need to render, AI and scale

 

[Mr. Omega]

It's disturbing to me how many of the posts here I can defend the video with with the arguement "Go back and ACTUALLY WATCH the video."

Bob screwed up big time with the title and first thirty seconds of this video, because doing that, the PC Master Race PC Elitist PC Fanboys only started half-listening after the first thirty seconds, the other half of them mentally preparing their "Oh, yes PC gaming is dying snark snark snark sarcasm snark snark snark" post for the comment section.

OT: I get the basic point. While many consider a laptop a PC, I guess Bob doesn't. That's the biggest reason, if not the ONLY reason these arguements are happening. The basic point is that the old-fashion DESKTOP PCs are becoming obsolete. And they are. Is his outlook in the future a little far-fetched? Yes. But it was entertaining.

 

[Tomster595]

Great episode Bob. While a few of the ideas here a bit too radical in my opinion, I agree on the whole. I do like PC games, in fact I'm typing on a gaming laptop right now, but the reality is that PC gaming is dying. But I have to agree with Bob when he says that the age of large and powerful personal computers is coming to an end. I believe PC gaming is dying but not quite as quickly as Bob thinks it is.